The Manchester Essex Boys Tennis team has had a great start to the 2022 season. The boys have gone 4-1 so far in the young season with wins over Ipswich, Rockport, Masco and a 3-2 nail biter against a stacked Swampscott team. The boys only loss was a respectable one to perennial power Saint John's Prep. John Pope at first singles is undefeated to date with impressive wins over the Saint John's Prep #1 and the Swampscott High School #1 players.
After starting the season strong with four consecutive wins the Hornets are ramping up their schedule with matches against Austin Prep and Newburyport. Being two of the more powerful teams on the schedule, this will give the team a chance to measure themselves against tough opponents and get us ready for what looks like a spirited run to the end of the year and hopefully another CAL Baker division championship.
The team hosted Amesbury High School on a sunny Monday afternoon last week. The team dominated play from start to finish, controlling pace of play on both offense and defense. The final score of the contest was 17-3 enroute to a big win in the Hornets first home game of the 2022 season. Scoring was led by Junior attackman Wyatt Riehl (5 goals) and Senior attackman Ben DiFluri (3 goals). Seven other goal scorers would be added with Juniors Camren Hubbard and Jesse Oliver both scoring their first Varsity goals. The defense was led by Junior Goalie Jack DiPasquale, and Senior Captain Hayden Brady, combining for four saves on the afternoon. Another strong defensive effort from Senior Captain Andre Amigo and Junior Brennan Twombly willfully took charge in the defensive zone causing turnovers for the offense to put goals on the board. The Hornets hosted North Reading High School on April 14 in a chilly and misty night game matchup. Both teams would exchange possession time during the first quarter, but the visiting Hornets would go up 2-0 quickly. Mac Edgerton (2 goals) would strike first for the home team Hornets with just under 3 minutes to play. Both teams, again, would exchange long possession times, going into the half tied 4-4. Senior Hayden Brady would come up huge in the first half with four big saves in the goal. It was the relentless defensive play in the second half that propelled the home team momentum. The tandem goalie duo of Hayden Brady and Jack DiPasquale proved to be another huge factor in the teams’ home win, coming up with huge stops and taking charge on the settled and unsettled clearing situations. This was truly a team defensive effort, led by Seniors Andrew Amigo, Jacob Brown and Juniors Brennan Twombly, and Sam Athanas. Short stick defensive midfielder Doug Pratt had a strong showing between the line, tallying multiple ground balls and playing strong defense. The home team forced North Reading to cause multiple turnovers which lead to goals for Manchester Essex. Second half scoring was led by Quinn Brady (2), Ben DiFluri (2) and Mac Edgerton (1), Six goals was enough to hold North Reading off the scoreboard in the final minutes of play, securing the second straight win for the hometown Hornets.
The 2022 Hornets baseball team opened the season with a win on the road against the Marblehead Magicians with a final score of 12-0 on April 4. The Magicians then travelled to Memorial Field in Essex on April 11 for a rematch that wound up taking two days to reach a complete game. With the score 4-1 (Marblehead with the lead) in the bottom of the ninth inning on the 11th the umpires called the game as the sun was setting and it was becoming difficult to see the ball in play. The game resumed at 5 pm on April 14 with the Hornets up to bat. The final score was 6-4 Hornets with Senior Pitcher Colin Coyne getting the win along with Senior Ryan Andrews 3-4 with 3 runs scored and 4 RBI’s including 2 home runs, one of which was a walkoff 2 run home run in the bottom of the tenth inning to win the game. Pitcher Coyne hit 2-5 and Zak Porat and Henry Otterbein each had an RBI. With that game finally in the books the team turned their attention to a Saturday matchup with their Cape Ann League rival Rockport Vikings. Freshman Pitcher Satchel Rubin threw 5 innings letting up 1 run and striking out 6. Freshman Nick Brown pitched the last 2 innings striking out 3. Mike D’Oreo hit a base clearing double and finished with 2 RBI’s. Ryan Andrews was 2-4 with 2 RBI’s. Zak Porat added 2 RBI’s and Henry Otterbein added an RBI single. The Hornets stand at 1-0 in CAL play and 3-0 overall. Over school vacation the team travels to CAL opponents Amesbury and Hamilton Wenham before hosting non-league Bishop Fenwick to round out the week.
